Many of students write about a desire to find a place to get away from it all. A quiet, green field with no one else around. To relax in the dark evening without another soul disturbing you. Honestly, that's what I felt like tonight.

You can say I like to wander sometimes. I remember nights when I was in high school at Killarney. I often had times where I had to walk home when it was dark. The air was simply exhilirating and refreshing. Stepping out from the school on a cool, crisp winter's night was a prescription for getting away. Often, there was no one else around, but me. I'd walk down the path in the park and then up the street to my home. The lights always had the right angles; the air always had the right feel. Now and then, you'd hear the bark of a dog, the laugh of a small child, or the tick of the electric transformer up on the power pole. Those were wonderful nights.

I was in that kind of mood tonight. In search of some time where I could walk with myself, my thoughts, and the powers that be. For a while, it looked like I might get it as I stepped out of the guesthouse and meandered down the concrete path towards the foreign language department. A taxi came rolling down the path past me and probably weaved around those behind me. That Lionel Richie song about people playing in the dark kind of came to mind. You should know that the campus isn't exactly well lit, so it gives you that sort mystic feeling when you're walking at night.

The foreign language department was very well lit from the inside and the light radiated out onto the path in front of it. There were a lot of people walking about. Some had business, I suppose. I remembered then that some of students actually had class tonight. It was probably true for many others. There's a concept: class on a Sunday night. I kept on walking

I arrived at the edge of the campus lily pond. I saw just beyond it were the student cafeterias. They were burning with their incandescent light. I saw a lot of little bodies walking back and forth. I decided to avoid it.

I hugged the western side of the pond. The path there was high up above the pond, so I didn't want to go near it lest I wanted an evening swim in some murky water. I finally started to get the feeling that the solitude I was hoping for was not going to materialize.

At the end of the pond was the big old football (soccer) field. There were absolutely no lights there. If there was any mist there like the rest of the campus, I couldn't tell. Just beyond the field were the buildings on the RenMen Lu (the People's Road). Some windows were dimly lit, others were an inferno of neon. I really didn't see the neon, but I could tell that the Alton Hotel across from it was looking a little purple for a reason.

Then I glanced over to the side of the field where the men's dormitories were. Some of the windows were lit, others were not. For some reason, I thought of James Joyce's The Dubliners . I remember his short story "Araby" and how the houses were described. I wish I had his words to tell you, but all I really had were the feelings. I decided to start heading back.

I heard the music growing louder as I walked towards the basketball courts. Actually, it was the one basketball court that was converted into a roller skating rink, and I don't mean the in-line variety. These roller skates are the kinds you slip on top of your shoes. Yes, that's right, you keep your shoe on. Hard to imagine. Try.

Anyway, I was really surprised that they were still skating in the dark. The court wasn't well lit and I'm sure someone could run into someone else if they weren't careful. The music was simply blaring out this quasi-country, quasi-dance tune. Please don't ask me what it was. I haven't the foggiest notion.

I was a little disappointed. The music was like the nail in the coffin for my plans of solitude. I decided to swing around to the west playground just for the heck of it. There's a path there that goes between the basketball courts and the running track. It's a covered little sort of path. Many people were just sitting around talking. I was sort of afraid that I had stumbled across a local version of Lovers' Alley, so I kind kept my face looking forward as I went from one end to the other.

By this time, I figured I'd have more quiet back in my apartment than out here. Who cares that they're still working on the new building beside us, it was going to be quieter. So I ventured up the hill leading to the old WWII bunker, hung a right, found my way between two of the more dilapidated buildings, went up the stairs, and I was in front of my apartment. Even though there was less people here, my whole idea of rest was already shattered.

I got back into my second-floor apartment, hopped on the computer, and started typing up my thoughts. If there is anything about home I miss, I would have to say the way I can find a quiet spot in Vancouver. Even just wandering up and down 41st Avenue feels more relaxing than what I felt tonight. On some other night, I may have found tonight's atmosphere on campus rejuvenating, but I was not in that kind of mood.

Well, that was my Sunday night. How about yours?

p.s. For those of you interested, my Home key started working. It's kind of weird the way things work out, eh? Some of you wouldn't happened to have been dwelling upon the condition of my computer, would you? Just asking.